


Next to Me

by JasnNCarly



Category: General Hospital
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Ficlet Series, Ficlets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2015-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:20:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23570083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasnNCarly/pseuds/JasnNCarly
Summary: This will be a series of random ficlets surrounding Lila Rae and Morgan, who are the same age for the purposes of this story. Some details stick to current storylines, others do not.
Relationships: Lila Rae Alcazar/Morgan Corinthos





	1. Chapter 1

**Part I:**  
  
_“I can’t, Morgan. I just…can’t.”_  
  
Rejected on his wedding day, berated by his would-have-been-mother-in-law, and Morgan had not suffered enough; no, he had to watch as his ex-girlfriend tried to assist his brother in the ELQ takeover.  
  
_“Morgan, I will never cross the line with Kiki again. She’s not my cousin, but she’s still your ex. She’s still done this to you, and I need you to forgive me so I can help you through this.”_  
  
Morgan shook his head, storming out of the Quartermaine mansion, despite his brother’s calls after him, _so much for having my back, Mikey_.  
  
He was nearly to the gate when he spotted a petite redhead struggling to get to the doorstep; she dragged a suitcase nearly as big as herself and spit obscenities under her breath.  
  
Puzzled by her presence, he paused his furious pace.  
  
“You just gonna stare at me or grab the damn bag?”  
  
Despite her rude greeting, Morgan felt the need to caution her, “Look, you don’t want anything to do with the mess in there.”  
  
“The hell I don’t. That’s my future they’re debating in there.” She let out a large huff, hands on her hips as the suitcase nearly toppled over, “Tracy may hate my mother, but Ned told her to get over it.”  
  
“You know Ned?”  
  
“Yeah, believe me, my mother’s flipping out over it, but I could care less.” She stopped short of a lengthy explanation, narrowing her eyes at him, “Who are you?”  
  
“Not that it matters, but…” Extending his hand, he could not manage a smile as confusion wrinkled his brow, “Morgan Corinthos.”  
  
She accepted, shaking his hand firmly, “Lila Rae Alcazar.”  
  
_Alcazar?_ Morgan knew the name well but had no time to run.  
  
“Now, that we’ve got the formalities out of the way. Would you mind grabbing that so I can storm the castle?” Lila Rae brushed past him, giving his shoulder a firm double pat.  
  
Morgan may have left her bag there if the memory of his ex-girlfriend and ‘big’ brother was not such a large amount of sea salt in the gaping hole in his chest; snatching her possessions off the path, he rushed in after her with a faint smile accompanying a hopeful thought, _this I gotta see_.  
  
“This is your secret weapon? An innocent child!”  
  
“AJ, is that anyway to talk about the next generation of Quartermaines?”  
  
“Tracy, you can’t stand Skye!” AJ lowered his tone, turning to Lila Rae, and offered a polite, restrained grin, “Lila Rae, you have to know how close I am with your mother. She would not want you siding with Tracy over me; she is the one who encouraged me to get into this fight.”  
  
“I’m not my mother, and she has no say in what I do. I will help to shape the future of ELQ.” She moved across the room, smile bright as she stood beside Tracy, “With some strong help, of course.”  
  
While Morgan could care less about the company’s destruction, he got a sick sense of satisfaction as he watched AJ’s fallen expression have a domino effect on his supporters; Michael and Kiki’s disappointment should not have meant so much to him, but it did. This was something Morgan would have to thank Lila Rae for in the near future.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II:**  
  
“You really think I’m that easy?”  
  
“You really want me to answer that?”  
  
While girls may have flocked to Morgan, Lila Rae had become accustomed to men falling at her feet; her last name was intimidating and her looks disarmed her opponents in an entirely different way. She found herself fascinated with Morgan cocky attitude, especially when it was so easy to get his mood to shift – the mention of one name.  
  
_Kiki._  
  
The little brunette still managed to be a barrier between Morgan and his brother though she had skipped town months ago; Lila wanted to believe she was capable overcoming that barrier to the brunette’s bolted down heart.  
  
“You know you could just admit that you love having me around.” Her comment caused him to scratch the back of his head and avoided her eyes, an adorable yet irritating sign he was avoiding, “That I totally leveled AJ by working Tracy, that I got your rate ex to scurry away, and opened you to the possibilities far beyond the simplicities you were living with before.”  
  
Leaning back in her seat, she waited for him to tell her she was conceited – to level her for the challenge; Lila welcomed it with a half grin.  
  
“You’re right.” Morgan reached across the table, unexpectedly covering one of her hands with his, “I owe you, Lila.”  
  
She felt naked, exposed by the proclamation, as his thumb stroked the outer side of her palm; he had the ability to make her feel vulnerable, helpless, and she hated him for it. Weakness was not attractive, and she knew it.  
  
Lila cleared her throat, pulling her hand from beneath his, “I know. Of course, you do.”  
  
His soft chuckle, the way he confidently leaned back, made her feel played; something she could not afford to feel with anyone, especially a Corinthos.  
  
“That’s my cue to step out.”  
  
“What? Come on.”  
  
“I have stuff to do at ELQ, all right? We can continue with this awkward conversation later.” Lila was out the door, leaving him to foot the bill as she stepped outside of Kelly’s and cursed under her breath. She let Morgan see too much of what she was, had too many ridiculous fantasies of how it would feel to be his just once.  
  
_Stupid daydreams._  
  
They were useless, and she knew that…still she couldn’t help it.  
  
“Lila.”  
  
Turning at the sound of her name, she didn’t even have a second to huff before her face was in the gentle care of his palms – her lips pillowed against his.  
  
For a blissful moment, it felt real. She could taste it, could feel his hands move down the link of her arms before sliding around her waist and bring her body to his.  
  
It was a dream; she knew it was too detailed in its perfection to be real.  
  
“I told you I owed you.”  
  
Lila frowned, unable to distinguish the reality of the moment until he took a confident stride away, calling over his shoulder.  
  
“I’ll call you tonight. Answer the phone.”  
  
Outwardly, she rolled her eyes. The only thing she could do to play off the moment, but the second she began her walk again, her knees nearly gave out and a soft sigh escaped her pinched lips.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part III:**  
  
He was late.  
  
To a dinner he had planned.  
  
To his opportunity to make her feel wanted, desired….and better than the rest.  
  
She felt foolish for buying a new dress, for spending and hour on her hair and her temple; it was obvious this was game – one she was so easily allowing him to win.  
  
Lila pretended to busy herself with her phone once more, sitting solo under the stars as cars honked below.  
  
_Enough of this_.  
  
Throwing her phone into her clutch, she stomped back inside just as the elevator bell announced a new arrival; her fury rarely knew this level **_or_** had a laser focus on a target.  
  
Morgan was in for a horrible wake up.  
  
That was until she saw the look in his eyes, blood shot, and his flushed skin, ghost white.  
  
She stood still, uncertain of how to approach.  
  
Whatever had happened, he had gained his senses just long enough to find her. Confident in his need, Morgan made his way across the room and to her; without warning, he wrapped his arms around her, tight as though she were a life raft.  
  
~*~  
  
His father had collapsed, after a psychotic break, and the entire family had gathered at General Hospital; Lila had accompanied him after a simple request.  
  
As they awaited news, Morgan was silent; yet he continued to hold her hand, their fingers tangled in a tight grasp.  
  
Lila wanted to do more, at least apologize for her doubt in him. But there was no time or words, so she stayed silent, using her free hand to rub his bicep as she rested her head on his shoulder.  
  
When his brother approached them, she could feel his body tense against her touch.  
  
“Maybe I should have Max take you home, Lila.”  
  
“Maybe you should stop worrying about my girlfriends, Mikey.”  
  
The exchange was far too uncomfortable for Lila to correct the title Morgan replaced her name with; instead, she felt the urge to emphasize her loyalty, “I’ll leave when Morgan asks me to, not a second before. So back off.”  
  
Carly stepped in, whispering something to Michael and leading him a few steps away.  
  
Leaning his head back, Morgan let out a low growl, “Some things never change.”  
  
“And some things do.” Lila’s soft proclamation caused him to tilt his head towards her; she took a deep breath, “Maybe I should go get you some coffee or something.”  
  
“No.” Morgan’s voice was soft but firm, “I don’t want you to go.”  
  
“There’s got to be something else I can do. I’m feeling a little useless here…”  
  
“You’re not.” Sitting up again, suddenly leaning closer to her, he offered the first smile she had seen since earlier today, “You had my back.”  
  
“I put up a good front. My family has taught me well.” Lila squared her shoulders, whispering, “But I honestly don’t know why you’d want me here.”  
  
“It isn’t obvious?”  
  
“Not really.”  
  
“…things just seem to get better when you’re around me.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Part IV:**  
  
“We all know it’s for the best but…” Morgan shook his head, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees; the sun caught a hint of the lighter brown in his jet black mane as he tried to grasp a full breath of summer air, “I don’t know why I’m upset.”  
  
Lila took this as her cue, scooting closer to him on the park bench and squeezing his bicep, “Morgan, no one wants to see their father sent to a place like Shadybrook.”  
  
“My family’s screwed up, Lila. It feels like I don’t have a right to be angry or sad or anything.”  
  
Lila reached over to stroke his cheeks with the back of her hand, his five ‘o clock shadow ticklish to her touch; using two fingers to cup his chin, she forced him to face her, “You have a right to feel exactly how you are feeling right now, and don’t you dare let anyone tell you different.”  
  
“Yeah?” Morgan reached up to catch her hand before she could pull away, pressing her palm to his cheek, “And if I get into it with my family later over my ‘feelings’?”  
  
Lila fought through her nerves, certain Morgan was the only to ever make her uncertain of anything, “Well, that’s what you keep me around for, right? They’ll deal with me if they’ve got something to say.”  
  
Morgan thanked her with a kiss, simple and bittersweet – almost as though he needed her to ground him, remind him that his life was not going to spiral out of control.  
  
She did that for him; she would continue to do that as long as he let her.  
  
~*~  
  
“You should remove yourself from this situation, Lila. You have no idea what’s going on between Michael and Morgan.”  
  
“I know you had a lot to do with it.”  
  
Alone in a waiting room with Kiki, that’s the last place Lila wanted to be – but she would be damned if she was the one to back down.  
  
“You have no idea how I felt about either one of them.”  
  
“I also **_know_** you weren’t good for either brother, and you’re the nosy little onlooker in this situation. Morgan and Michael were too good for a skank like—”  
  
Kiki winded her hand up to strike Lila’s perfectly pink blushed cheek; however, Lila saw it coming and snatched the brunette’s wrist before the attack could occur.  
  
“Look, you little troll, I’ll let you have a pass because Morgan and his family could do without the stress of me putting you in the hospital.” Lila squeezed Kiki’s wrist until the girl winced, leaning towards Kiki with her ebony eyes in death mode, “But you ever come at me like that again? You’re going to realize how much of my father’s blood runs through my veins.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Part V:**  
  
She did not want their first time to be like this.  
  
If it had been anyone else, hot and heavy, Lila might have ran with it.  
  
His heart needed the bandage of physical contact, and her anger could use an outlet of its own.  
  
The way Kiki had tried to come at her fueled her with enough anger to keep a man occupied for days; however, Morgan was not just any man to her – he was not just ‘fun’ to her.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
Lila tried to speak, distracted by his bare chest and the hot breath leaving his reddened lips; she snapped her lips shut, trying to think of how to verbalize an uncomfortable truth to him in the most awkward moment possible.  
  
“Lila,” Morgan’s soft verbalization of her name made her quiver in ways he would never understand; taking her face into his hands, he forced her to fall into his bottomless stare, “Talk to me.”  
  
The command, gentle yet stern, nearly caused her to jump him – damn her intentions or their budding relationship. It would be what it would be regardless, right?  
  
Lila felt her heart dip down into her gut at his next actions, forcing her to pause; Morgan stroked her red locks affectionately, as though trying to calm a frightened damsel, then moved to caressing her cheeks with his thumbs.  
  
He did everything right and, _damn it_, she loved him for it.  
  
Lila nearly passed out as the realization tightened her heart in her chest and almost made her dumb enough to say the words; Morgan was incapable of loving her back, not at this moment. Maybe never. After everything that had happened with Kiki and Michael, after his heart had been put through a meat grinder, she was not naïve to believe the feeling was reciprocated.  
  
Still, she found the courage to say the words.  
  
“Not like this.”


End file.
